1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to computers and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for supplying power to the display in a portable computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since the proliferation of the personal computer as a personal and business tool, portable computers have been in high demand. Portable computer manufacturers are continually refining the portable computers to have a greater number of features while reducing the size and weight of the units.
Very low weight portable computers are referred to as "notebook" computers. At one time, notebook computers were stripped of many features in order to reduce weight and size; however, current day notebook computers are full-featured.
In notebook displays, the trend is clearly towards providing larger, higher resolution screens which are comparable to CRT (cathode ray tube) screens used with desktop computers. As the resolution and color depth supported by the display increases, the amount of information which must be sent from the main housing to the display housing similarly increases. In many cases, the additional bandwidth is accommodated by increasing the number of signal lines between the main housing and the display housing.
Simply increasing the number of signal lines has its drawbacks. First, with the addition of each line, the amount of EMI (electro-magnetic interference) increases. EMI is strictly regulated by the FCC (Federal Communication Commission). Second, the signal and power lines passing between the main housing and the display housing are typically threaded through one of both of the hinges (or other rotation mechanism) connecting the two housings by manual assembly. As the number of video signal lines increases, the additional volume makes threading the signals lines through a hinge more difficult.
Therefore, a need has arisen in the industry to provide an efficient, low interference method and apparatus for passing signals between two connected housings.